A storage center, but not a supercenter

Business Briefcase

October 13, 2005

Wal-Mart in downtown Sanford?

Not quite.

The retail giant is leasing 20,600 square feet of space in a historic building at 200 N. Elm Ave. in downtown Sanford. But the space will be used for overflow holiday inventory for two area Wal-Mart stores.

The historic brick building was built in the 1920s, said Frank Dever, one of the Stirling International brokers who negotiated the lease between Wal-Mart and landlord TomKat Enterprises of Sanford.

Out with old, in with new

TransMeridian Airlines may have ceased operations late last month, but Allegiant Air LLC is adding service at Orlando Sanford International Airport.

The airline is offering flights between Sanford and three more destinations -- Springfield-Branson Regional Airport in Springfield, Mo.; Toledo Express Airport in Toledo, Ohio; and Northwest Chicagoland International Airport in Rockford, Ill.

The Springfield flights are Wednesdays and Saturdays, departing Sanford at 8:15 a.m. and arriving in Springfield at 9:40 a.m. Return flights leave Springfield at 10:15 a.m. and arrive at Sanford at 1:40 p.m.

Service to Toledo and Rockford is scheduled to begin Dec. 15, with flights Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Girard opens new headquarters

Girard Cos., parent company of Girard Environmental Services, recently opened a 5,500-square-foot headquarters at 1250 Central Park Drive in Sanford.

The location is nearly double the size of the company's existing offices on West First Street in Sanford. That site will be kept.

Girard says it has 200 full-time employees.

Contracts worth $1 million

Team Information Services, Inc. in Lake Mary recently won two contracts to provide outsourced application design and development services.

Ian Hilton, vide president of sales and marketing, said Team could not identify the companies because of confidentiality agreements, but one is a Naples provider of enterprise Internet security products. That contract is worth about $500,000 annually and is for offshore application development. The other client is based in Atlanta and awarded Team a $500,000 contract for small forensic products and services.

Realty firm makes a move

Stirling International Realty is moving into new corporate headquarters on Rinehart Road in the Lake Mary area in early November.

The two-story facility includes 14,600 square feet for administrative spaces, Stirling's north Orlando commercial division and a training and a career development center.

Stirling owner Roger Soderstrom said the estimated cost of construction for the headquarters was $2.8 million.

Meanwhile, Stirling International Realty was selected exclusive sales and marketing representative at Lake Club, a 26-acre community along Markham Woods Road with homes priced from $5 million to $6.5 million.

Home builders in the community are Brentwood Custom Homes, Irvin Construction Inc., Charles Clayton Construction, Cyr Building and Development and Hillcrest Homes.

Site development is under way, and home construction is scheduled to begin later this year.